Culinary Schools in Columbus

Columbus is the Ohio state capital, home to Ohio State University, and the site of a diverse dining scene. Here, Columbus culinary schools prepare students to work in a city that embraces culinary traditions from around the globe. Visitors can come to Columbus to take food adventure van tours sampling Middle Eastern, Nigerian, Somali, and Vietnamese food at top ethnic restaurants, take a walking tour to Short North area bistros, taste taco truck fares, or even visit a James Beard-nominated restaurant. Overall, the city has one of the 20 U.S. city chapters of Dine Originals (composed entirely of locally-owned businesses), access to fresh, local food through the city's well-known North Market, and more than 900-plus restaurants to visit. Culinary schools add to the fun: in early 2012, Columbus culinary students designed cakes replicating the statehouse, as well as the structures of eight schools and colleges in the city.

Building Your Columbus Culinary Career

After graduation, culinary school students can potentially look to any one of over 21,896 eating and dining places located statewide for a lead to launching a career. In fact, chefs and head cooks working in Columbus earned mean annual wages of $44,240 while those working in the state averaged mean wages of $41,230, according to May 2013 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Statewide, restaurants employed more than 534,300 workers, or approximately 10 percent of Ohio’s workforce, as of early 2014, according to the National Restaurant Association. While a culinary education is not needed to make a start in the industry, the training and connections available through school can be advantageous when it comes to advancing through kitchen ranks. Be sure to look at our list of culinary schools in Columbus, Ohio below as you prepare your culinary tools for success in the kitchen.